Proof of a Hero
by Buckbuck2
Summary: Welcome to Diaire, a place where the world itself is split in four. We will follow the tale of eight adventurers who, although they don't know it yet, will change Diaire forever.
1. Chapter 1

The town of Emac was small, and largely unimportant in the large scale of things. Nothing particularly notable came into the town or was produced by it. Due to its placement near a forest in the foothills of the nearby Icepeaks, it did occasionally see monster activity, but enough adventurers passed through Emac to mitigate any problems.

Our story begins in one of Emac's inns, the Bronze Hind. It was a fairly nice inn, considering the somewhat low income of the town. The beds were nice, only the third door on the right squeaked, and the floorboards didn't creak too much. The food and drink, while somewhat generic for an inn, was still high quality.

Lively music filled the bar, produced from the instruments of five musicians sitting around a table. One had a fiddle in his hands, another provided the beat with his drums, two twins had flutes, and the fifth matched the fiddler's lively song with her guitar.

The door to the inn opened, admitting two people. The first looked to be human, and young at that. Blue robes hung loosely off his form, and he leaned wearily on his wooden staff. His sky blue eyes searched the room for an empty table as he ran a pale-skinned hand through his short white hair. His companion, a young-looking aarakocra in black leather armor, nudged his side.

"I don't see any empty tables," she said quietly, her brown feathers ruffling. The young man nodded.

"Maybe we could sit with them if we asked," he said, pointing to another patron. The aarakocra followed his finger to the back, to see something surprising to her. The patron in question was a tortle, not something you see too often. The tortle had a greataxe propped up on the nearby wall, marking them as an adventurer, like the young man and the aarakocra. With a shared nod, the young man and the aarakocra walked over to the tortle. When they reached the table, the young man spoke up.

"Excuse me," he said. "May we sit here?"

The tortle looked up at the two, studied them briefly, then smiled.

"Of course," the tortle, female and somewhat old by the tone of voice, said. "I would love to sit and talk to you."

"Thank you," the young man said while taking a seat across from the tortle. The aarakocra took a seat next to the young man without saying a word. He noticed this, however, and lightly elbowed her side.

"Thank you," the aarakocra said, rubbing her side where the young man had hit her.

"No problem at all," the tortle chuckled. "My name is Jappa. Might I ask yours?"

"My name is Parcifal," the young man said.

"And I'm Ikki!" The aarakocra chirped.

"Nice to meet you both, Parcifal, Ikki," Jappa said. "If you don't mind me asking, what brings you to Emac?"

"We're adventurers!" Ikki said.

"We've been travelling around Diaire," Parcifal said. "Just doing odd jobs, fending off monsters-"

"Exploring ruins!" Ikki interrupted.

"You know, generic adventurer things," Parcifal finished. "What brings you here, Jappa?"

"Mostly the same things that brought you here," Jappa said. "You're never too old to start adventuring."

At this, she gave a slight pat to her greataxe. Parcifal responded with a nod and a tap to his staff.

"Well aren't you three getting along!" A fourth voice said. A somewhat small figure leapt over the back of the fourth chair at the table and sat down with her feet on the table. She had pale skin, short black hair, and green eyes, and she wore very heavily decorated leather armor and a short cape. Her slightly pointed ears and air of mystic quality marked her as of some kind of elven descent, likely a half-elf. Set down next to her was a guitar.

"Vyandra," Jappa said to the half-elf. "Feet off the table; we have guests."

The half-elf jumped slightly and set her feet down on the ground.

"Sorry, folks," she said. "Forgot my manners for a second. Vyandra Ascalon, bard extraordinaire, at your service."

Parcifal and Ikki nodded, shook Vyandra's outstretched hand, and introduced themselves. The four made small talk, ordered a meal, and talked some more.

"So, you used to be an actor?" Vyandra asked Parcifal.

"Yeah, but I wasn't very good," he replied. "Once I figured that out, I decided to use my magic abilities for a life of adventure."

"And that's how we met!" Ikki chimed in.

"That's pretty neat," Vyandra said. "So, you're a spellcaster. Any idea what kind?"

"Sorcerer," Parcifal said around a bite of food.

"Show me something you can do," Vyandra said. "I'm curious."

Parcifal shrugged. He grabbed his staff and tapped the table they were sitting at. Suddenly, it lit up a soft yellow.

"Know anything else other than light?" Vyandra asked. Parcifal opened his mouth to reply, but all that came out were some pink bubbles. He rolled his eyes and slammed his forehead into the table while Vyandra and Ikki laughed. Even Jappa chuckled a little.

"So, you were granted wild magic?" Jappa said between chuckles. Parcifal nodded and extinguished the table. Almost immediately after, a townsperson barged into the Bronze Hind.

"Goblins!" He shouted. The entire bar erupted into chaos. The four looked at each other and nodded. At once, they stood up and rushed outside.

In the square outside the inn were four goblins. Parcifal stood near the door to the Broze Hind, while Jappa unslung her greataxe, Ikki pulled out two daggers, and Vyandra drew a rapier. With a cry, Ikki unfolded her wings and shot into the air. She looped around to the goblin farthest in the back and tried to jab him twice, once with each dagger. However, both jabs failed. The first hit a particularly tough part of the goblin's leather armor, and her second dagger slipped out of her hand and she had to catch it.

Parcifal saw this happen, and pointed the tip of his staff at the goblin. Muttering a quick incantation- thankfully the odd effect of his wild magic had worn off- he launched a bolt of fire at the goblin Ikki was directly behind. The fire bolt spell hit the goblin, but it didn't hurt him much.

Jappa's eyes dilated and her breathing got heavy. She opened her mind to that primal rage and let it fill her. With a wordless battle cry, Jappa ran over to the nearest goblin and swung at him with her greataxe. The head of the axe made contact with the goblin's body and tore him clean in two, killing him instantly.

Vyandra leapt to the next closest one and lunged at him with her rapier. However, the goblin brought his shield up between himself and the rapier and laughed at her. He then cut at her with his scimitar, which scored a hit down her side, which began to bleed. The second remaining goblin drew her shortbow and fired at Jappa. However, the arrow glanced off Jappa's shell. The third goblin spun around and slashed at Ikki with his scimitar, cutting a shallow line across her chest.

Ikki gasped in pain, but looped back around behind the goblin and attacked him again. Her first dagger slipped off the goblin's armor, but the second one cut through, killing him. Parcifal spun to face the goblin with the shortbow. He muttered another incantation, and this time three bolts of magical energy appeared around his staff. He flicked his staff, and fired all three bolts at that goblin. The first one caused her to stagger, the second killed her, and the third blasted her hard into the ground. As soon as Parcifal cast magic missile, he felt a spell wash over him, and suddenly he was twenty feet in the air, but not falling.

Jappa ran over to the last goblin and swung at him with her greataxe. Once again, her powerful strike cleaved the goblin in two. Once Jappa finished her backswing, she looked around, eyes wide and frothing at the mouth for another enemy. Vyandra, meanwhile, sheathed her sword and pulled her guitar off her back. She played a quick tune which seemed to hum with magical energy. The large gash in her side healed mostly, although it still bled slightly.

"You okay up there, Parcifal?" Vyandra asked as Jappa came out of her rage.

"I think so!" He said. "Just another wild magic thing, I'm sure it's- heads up, we've got more company!"

As soon as Parcifal said that, eight more goblins poured into the square. Just as soon as the goblins came into the square, however, four more figures appeared. The first was a wood elf, with coppery skin, green eyes, and long black hair. She wore scale mail, and she had a longbow in her hands. Second was a human man, also wearing scale mail, with pale skin and long black hair. In one hand was a warhammer, and the other a shield. Third to appear was a female dragonborn. Chain mail covered her blue scales, and she held a longsword and a shield, the latter with a seashell emblem engraved on it. The fourth person to appear was a short tiefling girl, with black skin, red eyes, and shoulder length white air. She wore a set of beat up leather armor.

The wood elf fired her longbow at the nearest goblin to Parcifal. Her arrow shot through its head, killing it instantly. The human swung his warhammer at the nearest goblin, but it glanced off her shield. Ikki flew over to the goblin the human had attacked and tried to stab her with both her daggers. Her first dagger pierced through the armor, although it lost most of its momentum and didn't hurt the goblin very much, her second dagger, however, found a chink in the goblin's armor, piercing her throat and instantly killing her.

One goblin cut at Ikki with his scimitar, drawing an ugly line across her back, which bled profusely and made her scream in pain. Two goblins shot their shortbows at Parcifal, but both missed, their arrows spiraling off into the twilight. A fourth goblin slashed at Ikki again, but this time she dodged out of the way. The fifth goblin fired his shortbow at Ikki, but also missed. The sixth and final goblin charged Jappa and tried to cut Jappa, but his sword scraped off her shell.

Parcifal angrily turned his staff to the goblin that had cut Ikki and cast fire bolt at him. The fire exploded against the goblin, but just barely did not kill him. Jappa reentered her rage and swung at the goblin nearest to her. Unlike before, though, the goblin was not instantly killed. Had Jappa been capable of lucid thought, she would have been impressed. The dragonborn muttered something quickly under her breath, and suddenly her longsword was crackling with lightning. She ran over to one of the goblins that shot at Parcifal and swung at him. Her swing cut through the goblin's armor and drew blood. Suddenly there was the crack of a lightning strike, and the goblin was now dead and thoroughly charred.

Vyandra strummed an eerie chord on her guitar, and suddenly the goblin Parcifal had cast fire bolt on fell over, dead and bleeding from the ears, nose, and eyes. The tiefling shot her hand out at the other goblin that had attacked Ikki and mutered something quickly. A beam of white energy shot from her hand and blasted the goblin in the chest, killing him instantly. The wood elf then shot another arrow, this time at the goblin Jappa had attacked. Her arrow shot through the air and impaled the goblin's chest, but did not kill him.

The human then laid a hand on Ikki, who trembled from pain on the ground in front of him. Golden light spilled from his hands and sealed Ikki's wounds while he muttered a prayer. Ikki looked up to him and nodded in thanks, before flying over to the other goblin that had shot at Parcifal and stabbing him in the back. Her first stab lost most of its power cutting through the goblin's armor, but the second didn't make it through. That goblin then spun around and cut Ikki with his scimitar. His strike cut deep, and Ikki nearly passed out from the pain. The goblin that Jappa had attacked attacked Jappa back with his scimitar, but once again scraped off her shell. The third remaining goblin cut at Ikki with his scimitar, cutting her back deeply. Ikki howled in pain, and passed out, bleeding on the ground.

Parcifal roared in anger. He swooped down in front of Ikki and spread his hands so his thumbs were touching. He quickly muttered an incantation, and blasted the two goblins with the fire from his burning hands spell. The blast incinerated the two goblins. Jappa, meanwhile, swung her greataxe again at the nearest goblin. The goblin was cut cleanly in half. Parcifal turned to the human.

"You! Cleric!" He shouted. "Fix her!"

"R-right," the human said. He laid a hand on Ikki's chest and muttered a prayer. Golden light spilled from his hand and swirled around Ikki. Three agonizing seconds later, Ikki sat up and began to cough violently.

"That's all I can do for the moment," the human said. "I'm all tapped out, spell-wise."

"It's fine," Parcifal said. "It's more than enough."

"Holsten?!" Vyandra shouted. The human looked up, just in time for the short half-elf to tackle hug him.

"It's so good to see you again!" She said.

"Good to see you too, sis," the human, Holsten, said. Vyandra let go of him and looked him over.

"Lookin' good, bro," she said. "Where'd you get the gear?"

"The temple gave it to me," Holsten said. "They said a proper cleric should be outfitted like one."

"Well, I think it suits you," Vyandra said, making Holsten blush. Someone cleared their throat. Vyandra flinched, and turned to see Parcifal, with Ikki snoring away in his arms.

"You mind introducing us, or...?" Parcifal asked.

"Right!" Vyandra shouted. "Holsten, these are my friends: Parcifal's the human, Ikki's the aarakocra, and Jappa's the tortle!"

"Nice to meet you all- well, all once Ikki wakes up," Holsten said. He turned to Parcifal and Jappa, who had just walked over. "My name is Holsten Ascalon, and I am Vyandra's half-brother. The wood elf is Naivara Amastacia, the dragonborn is Yarjerit Nala, and the tiefling is Larissa Hapthorne."

Before the two could introduce themselves to the other three, who had come when Holsten had listed their names, a stout human, likely with some dwarven blood in his veins, walked up to the gathered eight.

"I'd like to thank ye all for defendin' our village," he said. "How abou this- ye can stay for three nights for free at me inn, the Bronze Hind."

The conscious seven exchanged glances. Parcifal turned to the innkeeper.

"We'd love that," he said. Five of the six behind him let out a huge cheer. No one noticed that Naivara was instead looking strangely at Vyandra.

* * *

 **And that's the end of chapter 1! Don't really have too much to say, other than this'll definitely be a long haul.**

* * *

 **Characters (numbers in parenthese is the character's level. Numbers will be added when they do an action only available to that level or higher):**

 **Parcifal- Human(?) Wild Magic Sorcerer (?)**

 **Ikki- Aarakocra Rogue (?)**

 **Jappa- Tortle Barbarian (?)**

 **Vyandra Ascalon- Half-Elf Bard (?)**

 **Naivara Amastacia- Wood Elf Archer of Some Kind (?)**

 **Holsten Ascalon- Human Cleric of an Unknown Domain and God (?)**

 **Yarjerit Nala- Dragonborn Paladin of an Unknown God (2)**

 **Larissa Hapthorne- Tiefling Spellcaster of Some Kind (?)**


	2. Chapter 2

Ikki sat up in her bed and stretched. One by one, she felt her joints pop. She then jumped out of bed and stretched her legs, limbering herself up for the day. She didn't expect to fight anything that day, so she pulled on a loose pair of pants and a white shirt, which had its sleeves removed to accommodate her wings. Just in case, however, she grabbed one of her daggers and strapped it to her belt. Ikki then smoothed her feathers and opened her room's door.

She was met with a wall of blue. Ikki took a step back and looked up... and up... and up, to see that it was the dragonborn that had come to their aid the night before. Like Ikki, she had forgone her armor and weapons, and her clothing probably took about the same amount of cloth to make as Ikki's did. Her shirt was little more than a strip of white cloth that barely covered her... shall we say _healthily_ proportioned chest, and her pants were little better, the brown fabric seemingly painted on and stopping a full two hands' length from her knees.

"Um, hello," Ikki said. "Ah, Yarjerit, was it?"

The dragonborn laughed. "Technically, that's right," she said. "Thing is, though, in dragonborn culture our clan name comes before our given name. Call me Nala."

"Right," Ikki said. "So, Nala, why are you at our door?"

"Well, Jappa wanted to know if either of you had woken up yet," Nala said. "But mainly, I wanted to see that sorcerer friend of yours shirtless."

Ikki's eyes narrowed. "And what if, instead of me answering the door fully clothed, Parcifal did, and I was the one shirtless?"

"I'd be fine with that," Nala said while shrugging.

"I'm underage, though," Ikki said. Nala recoiled slightly, her face a mix between surprise and disgust.

"I'm significantly less fine with that," Nala said. Ikki and Nala looked at each other for a tense few seconds, before starting to giggle and chuckle, respectively.

"Seriously, though," Nala said through her chuckles. "I am not okay with seeing a minor topless. Unless they specifically ask for it. How is that sorcerer- Parcifal, was it?- doing anyways?"

Ikki turned to look at the other bed in the room. The sheets were all twisted and thrown about, but she could just barely make out the white of Parcifal's hair at the top of the twisted mass. Faint snoring drifted to Ikki's ears from it.

"He's fine," Ikki said. "He just likes to sleep in."

Nala shrugged. "Fair enough. Come on; we should probably get down there before Larissa eats everything. Again."

* * *

Jappa was honestly impressed by- and a little worried with- the young tiefling girl. The amount she could put away while eating reminded her of Damu and Gura, back before they set out on their own. What worried her was that Larissa was eating just as much, if not more, than her sons would, and they were 400 pound tortles, while Larissa couldn't have been over 60. She almost entirely forsaked manners, shoveling as much food as possible into her mouth at once, and not caring if the food went all over her face, into her hair, or onto her shirt.

What kind of conditions had Larissa lived in that caused her to eat like that?

"Larissa, dear," Jappa said. "Don't eat so fast, please. You'll choke yourself."

The tiefling stopped eating, almost as if coming out of a trance. Embarrassed, she swallowed her mouthful of food and set her fork and knife down.

"Sorry," she mumbled, head bowed in apology.

"No, no, it's fine," Jappa said. "I'm just looking out for you."

Jappa reached over the table and gently put a clawed finger under Larissa's chin. Gently, she tilted the girl's head up to look at her face. Jappa tutted.

"Come, sit next to me," Jappa said, shifting over on her bench. Larissa thought about it for a second, before sliding off her bench and climbing up next to Jappa. The tortle grabbed her cloth napkin and began to gently wipe off the bits of food stuck to Larissa's face.

"How old are you, Larissa?" Jappa asked.

"Twelve," Larissa mumbled. Jappa blinked in shock. For both tortles and tieflings, that was before adulthood, although if Jappa remembered correctly tieflings aged at the same rate humans did. Either way, twelve was far too young for an adventurer.

"Is something wrong?" Larissa asked. Jappa then thought back to the night before. She didn't remember much of the fight- a side effect of her battle rage- but she did remember seeing the girl instantly kill one of the goblins with a spell.

"I suppose not," Jappa said. "Would you like to know how old I am?"

Larissa nodded. Jappa leaned down, as if to whisper into Larissa's ear.

"I'm forty-five," Jappa stage-whispered.

"Really?" Larissa asked. "You seem older."

"Tortles like myself age faster than humans or tieflings," Jappa said. "I suppose I'd be somewhere around seventy or seventy-five if I was a human."

Larissa giggled. "You remind me of my granny," she said. "She always looked out for me, and did the same things you did."

Jappa chuckled. "It's an honor," she said. She finished wiping Larissa face off and patted her shoulder. "You're all clean. Now go upstairs and change into some day clothes."

Larissa jumped off the bench and ran up the stairs to hers and Jappa's shared room. The little tiefling girl wore a set of wool pajamas with little cutesy dogs and cats sewn in at regular intervals.

"Impressive," a voice said. Jappa turned to see the wood elf, Naivara.

"How so?" Jappa asked.

"That's the most she's opened up since I found her," Naivara said. "I ran into her a few months ago in Rona- she tried to steal some of my money, but she clearly wasn't a pickpocket. I sort of took her under my wing. It took me three weeks to pry out of her that she's a warlock."

"A warlock?" Jappa said, surprised. "Any idea what her patron is?"

"She wouldn't tell me," Naivara said, shaking her head. "Personally, I don't think she knows, either."

Jappa tutted again. A warlock who didn't know where their power came from was dangerous- being as young Larissa only compounded that. Something else stuck out in Jappa's mind as odd, though.

"You said you found Larissa in Rona, correct?" Jappa asked.

"Yes," Naivara said.

"Why would a wood elf go down to Harth?" Jappa said. Naivara tensed.

"Research," she said quickly. Jappa could tell that Naivara was being truthful, but wasn't telling the entire truth, and Naivara knew Jappa knew that.

"Very well," Jappa said. "Everyone is entitled to their secrets."

Just then, Nala and Ikki arrived at the table the two were sitting at.

"Hello again, Ikki," Jappa said. "How is Parcifal?"

"He's asleep," Nala said. "According to Ikki he likes to sleep in."

"Right," Jappa said. "Ikki, I don't believe you've met Naivara, have you?"

Ikki held out a taloned hand, which Naivara shook. The four made small talk, and were eventually joined by Larissa, Holsten, Vyandra, and a sleepy-eyed Parcifal.

"So!" Vyandra said. "Since we're all probably going to be staying here and seeing each other for the next few days, what does everyone want to do?"

"First, we need to split up the money we got from those goblins," Parcifal said. "Holsten, you said you had it?"

Holsten nodded and pulled out a coin purse.

"There's thirty-six gold pieces, five silver pieces, and five copper pieces in here," he said. "Everyone gets four gold, but that leaves four gold left over, and all of the silver and copper. Seeing as Parcifal, Ikki, Jappa, and Vyandra were the ones who defended the inn, I think they should divide the leftovers among themselves. Does that sound good?"

Everyone nodded, and after some debate between the four, Ikki received the extra silver and copper.

"Now that that's been sorted, what's everyone doing?" Vyandra asked.

"I want to see if there's a library around," Ikki said.

"I'll go with you," Parcifal said.

"I'll come too," Vyandra said. "Anyone else?"

"I want to see if I can find a place that sells potions," Jappa said.

"I'll join you!" Larissa chirped.

"I guess the rest of us will stay here, then," Nala said.

"I'm just going to walk around the city some," Naivara said. "I might pop into a store, but likely not."

The eight nodded, made plans to return by dusk, and set out into the rainy day.

* * *

Soon after they set out, Ikki found a library, a short, squat building wedged between an inn and a trading post. The sign hanging above the door read Aldrinith's Treasure Trove. Ikki, Parcifal, and Vyandra ducked into the store. A halfling sitting at the back, a middle-aged female, perked up.

"Welcome to Aldrinith's Treasure Trove!" She said cheerily. "I'm Aldrinith- what can I do for ya?"

"I'm just looking around," Ikki said.

"Wonderful!" Aldrinith said. "Anything in mind, or just browsing?"

"Just browsing," Ikki said.

"Alright, I'll just wait here for ya when you're done!" Aldrinith said. Ikki nodded, then picked a random aisle and ambled through it, occasionally stopping to pull out a book that piqued her interest. Parcifal and Vyandra shrugged, and proceded to do the same. Parcifal walked a few aisles closer to Ikki and grabbed a random book. He opened it up and pretended to read, but in reality was keeping a closer eye on Ikki. The aarakocra had... trouble in regards to ownership, especially books.

Vyandra, meanwhile, had found the adult section of the library, and was gleefully reading the very, very bad descriptions of sex that made certain textbooks she had defaced back in school seem riveting by comparison. Yes, not only had Vyandra found the smut, she had found the bad smut.

Ikki, meanwhile, was growing frustrated. She just couldn't seem to find what she was looking for! Ikki then walked up to Aldrinith.

"Hello!" The hafling said. "What can I help ya with?"

"Y-yes," Ikki said. "Um, d-do you ha-ave any b-books about mag-gic?"

Aldrinith smiled warmly. "Depends on what you're lookin' for. I've got some basic spellbooks, histories of magic, and probably a tome or two lying around somewhere."

"A tome w-would be nice," Ikki said. Aldrinith spied the dagger on Ikki's belt.

"That's a fine dagger you've got there," she said. "What do ya use it for?"

"O-oh!" Ikki said. "Killing monsters, and stuff."

"You a rogue?" Aldrinith asked.

"Y-yes," Ikki stammered. Aldrinith's face broke out into a toothy grin.

"I might just be able to help ya out, then," she said. "I used to be an adventurer myself- a rogue too. I could teach ya some tricks about the path I think ya want to take, if you want."

"Really?!" Ikki said. "When can we start?!"

"Hold on," Parcifal said, leaning on the counter. "How much are you going to charge us?"

"Nothin'" Aldrinith said. "Free of charge, and I'll throw a tome in for good luck."

Parcifal looked at Aldrinith, trying to see if he could detect any trace of a lie. Content that he had found nothing, he walked back to a nearby aisle and went back to "reading."

"So!" Aldrinith said. "The key to becoming an Arcane Trickster is to already have some kind of magical talent. Ya wouldn't happen to already be able to cast any kind of spell, miss?"

"No," Ikki said.

"No problem!" Aldrinith said. She waved her hand and murmured a quick incantation. A glowing blue hand formed, dived down behind the counter, and pulled up an intricate metallic case, which appeared to be locked. The mage hand then dived back down and pulled an equally intricate key.

"Inside this case is a set of scrolls," Aldrinith explained. "These scrolls are the Articles of Bori, and when read for 32 hours over at least four days, they impart the ability to cast prestidigitation. That should be enough for ya to get a spark of arcane talent."

Ikki grabbed the box and key.

"Another thing before ya leave," Aldrinith said. "I'd recommend getting your hands on a rapier, and using that as your sole weapon. Arcane Tricksters need one hand free at all times to cast spells, and a rapier's the best one handed weapon ya can get your hands on as a rogue."

"Right," Ikki said. She then looked at the case, concerned. "Won't the rain get inside the box?"

"Nope," Aldrinith said. "Fished that out of the lake, so near as I can figure the case's waterproof."

Ikki nodded. "Thank you!"

"Anytime!" Aldrinith said. Ikki and Parcifal walked out, a reluctant Vyandra in tow. As soon as the three walked out of the shop, though, Vyandra burst into a fit of giggles.

"What did you do?" Parcifal asked. Vyandra took a couple of deep breaths and stopped giggling, though her mouth still twitched.

"I drew a bunch of dicks in the margins of the book I was reading," Vyandra said, before bursting into another fit of giggles, this time joined by Ikki. Parcifal just pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

* * *

Jappa and Larissa ducked into the alchemist's shop they had found without too much difficulty, the old sign proclaiming it as Emac's Oils and Elixirs.

"Mornin'," a somewhat gruff voice called out. Sitting behind a counter was a heavyset human woman, with two streaks of gray hair emanating from her temples.

"My name's Ealhburg," she said. "Anythin' I can do for ya?"

"We are looking for some healing potions," Jappa said. "Would you happen to have any?"

Eahlburg ducked into a back storeroom for a moment before coming out with three bottles in her hands.

"I've got three," she said. "I'll sell them to ya for 15 gold a pop."

"We'll take two, then," Jappa said, handing over a mixture of her gold and Larissa's. Eahlburg grunted and passed two of the potions over.

"Thank you, miss!" Larissa said.

"No problem," Eahlburg said.

* * *

Naivara frowned. She wasn't too familiar with these woods, but she could tell something was off. Something definitely not native to the woods had come through this grove within the last few hours- two of them. Based on what Naivara assumed was the direction of the tracks, these two unknowns were headed...

"...right for Emac!" Naivara gasped. She sprinted off towards the town, hoping to make it before the creatures did.

* * *

 **Feedback is** **appreciated!**

* * *

 **Characters (numbers in parentheses is the character's level. Numbers will be added when they do an action only available to that level or higher):**

 **Parcifal- Human(?) Wild Magic Sorcerer (?)**

 **Ikki- Aarakocra Rogue (?)**

 **Jappa- Tortle Barbarian (?)**

 **Vyandra Ascalon- Half-Elf Bard (?)**

 **Naivara Amastacia- Wood Elf Ranger (?)**

 **Holsten Ascalon- Human Cleric (Unknown Domain and God) (?)**

 **Yarjerit Nala- Dragonborn Paladin of an Unknown God (2)**

 **Larissa Hapthorne- Tiefling Warlock (Unknown Patron) (?)**


End file.
